I am getting really tired of these bump pictures. They don’t seem to change at all over the weeks 🙂 lol
STATS:
Her size: “This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pound and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She’s sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby’s brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. ”
How far along: 27 WEEKS
Total weight gain: 155lb (that’s +1 for this week for a total of 19 lbs).
Sleep: I have adjusted to the new “big belly” sleep with a big body pillow and an additional pregnancy pillow ( more about that later). Today I realized that I haven’t thought about sleeping on my stomach in a very long time, which I would take as a hint that I am comfortable enough in the side sleeping position. The only complaint I have is that it appears I prefer my right side to my left and have to always consciously move myself to the left side, since it’s the side that the baby gets the most blood flow from.
Maternity Clothes: Definitely. Now that I have discovered a few really cool maternity brands, I am enjoying wearing maternity clothes, and even though normal tops still fit, I seem to always reach for maternity tops because they are softer and more comfortable.
Food cravings : Asian pears (these suckers are $3/piece at Whole Foods). It seems all my favorite fruit is out of season ( peaches and pears), which has to be the reason why I am craving sweets now ( and eating them too). Before, any time I’d want something sweet, I’d reach for a peach. Now it’s cupcakes ( damn you, Michelle, who brings them every time she stops by) or ice cream.
Food aversions: none
Symptoms I HAVE:
Heartburn – Mild to strong depending on my diet
Rash – Mild
Braxton Hicks – occasional
I’m also happy to tell you that both my boobs recently announced to me that they, in fact, work they way nature intended them to. Kind of exciting 🙂
Symptoms I still HAVE NOT had (hmmmm):
leg cramps
sciatic pain
persistent backache ( I only get backache if I don’t work out or sit in an uncomfortable position, like in bed, but it’s definitely nothing consistent),
persistent round ligament pain (I’ve felt it maybe twice the whole pregnancy),
swelling,
constipation,
shortness of breath,
mood swings,
linea negra
Doctor’s Appointment: I had my glucose test yesterday. I was both looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time. I wanted to get it out of the way and get a good result but at the same time I was not looking forward to drinking something THAT sweet on empty stomach ( I am not a fan of overly sweet things, that’s why I prefer fruit to sweets, or barely sweet european treats). They only had me drink half the little glucose bottle ( for those who haven’t been pregnant yet: it’s kind of like super sweet orange soda without the fizz). The first sip was actually tasty. Then the sweetness started BURNING my mouth. I finished it and sat down to make sure I don’t throw up or have a reaction. Hubby prepared a whole wheat sandwich in the meantime for me to take to the appointment and eat afterwards. I was starting to get lightheaded in the car, so I just laid back and chilled out. We got in, gave blood, I devoured my sandwich and then we met the doc to ask him a bunch of questions about labor.
We’ve been trying to figure out what direction we want to go with the whole labor/delivery thing and a lot depended on what the hospital protocols were and how flexible our OB was about certain things. There were some things that we were willing to give up, but then others that haed the potential of making us go the birthing center route instead, even though we are both really set on delivering in a hospital. So I won’t get into details, I need to write another post about our birth expectations and desires, but I couldn’t be happier with his answers. He is really the best OB I could hope for. He is experienced, flexible, and most importantly very very caring. I can just see that he will do what is best for the baby and the mother. He IS very pro-epidural, but I can’t blame him. In most births he has delivered, it has made his job and the job of laboring mother easier and not caused any issues. However, the most important thing is he FULLY supports me in anything we decide, whether it’s natural childbirth or an epidural. He keeps saying that if anyone can do it, it’s me to a lot of questions I ask.
Also, I love how he’s not a fan of other interventions ( aside from epidural), like breaking the water or cervical checks. His routine care is exactly what we wanted and a few things that we disagreed on, he explained to us in detail and we totally saw the point of doing what he recommends, even though he’d always follow it up with “But we can do whatever you guys decide to do”. How cool is that?
I was so afraid that we’re just going to be forced to do things “their” way, but all the answers were perfect. The only problem he foresees is getting an hour of bonding time before they clean and measure Alexis, because, in his words, “the baby nurses have their routine and they’re just not going to be happy about you breaking it. So make sure you let them know in advance and hope that they accommodate you”. I have read before that the baby bonding time right after birth was the hardest thing about giving birth in the hospital, that the baby nurse WAS NOT happy about the couple wanting to stay with the baby for a while after birth. So let’s just hope that we either get a really sweet nurse or that my husband has the balls to stand up to the hospital personnel and let them know our wishes, because I know I’ll be out of it. lol
Also, at the appointment, the doc said I am measuring 2 weeks behind ( fundal height). He wasn’t concerned at all and cited that it could be many things such as “strong abdominal muscles”, “small baby” (I was a small baby, only 6 lbs 4 oz, which, for how tall I am, is a bit small) or just temporarily behind. Also my mom said she didn’t really start showing too much with me till 7 months. Of course, it’s natural for me to worry a bit anyways. We’ll have our standard ultrasound in 4 weeks, so we’ll see then.
Movement: WE’VE GOT HICCUPS! I’ve been waiting for those. Wondering if I just can’t recognize them… But today while I was taking a nap, I definite felt our precious girl hiccup right in my cervix ( does that mean she’s head down?) Little tap-tap-taps rhythmically over a span of a minute. Love it! That means her central nervous system is developed enough to get hiccups. YAY!
Belly Button: An innie with a Napoleon complex.
Gender: GIRL!
Best moment of the week: Flying ( will write a post with photos about it- our friends took us on their Piper plane around the area and to the ocean) and doc’s appointment and baby girl’s hiccups.
What I’m looking forward to:
Officially hitting the third trimester mark, getting a bit more regular with my exercises, working on the nursery.
What I miss:
The beach
look at that belly! 🙂 weee!!
I also love your belly button description 🙂
Hi Elena!
I wish you nothing but the best of luck having the birth of your dreams in a hospital. Every woman deserves the birth of her choice, barring of course any emergencies or unforeseen complications.
I would just encourage you to do a LOT of reading about other women’s hospital experiences and how they coped with reconciling desires for a natural (or even semi-natural) birth in a hospital setting. The odds are, unfortunately, stacked against us. I thought that I had a supportive and wonderful OB, but then he disregarded my wishes in the delivery room. The nurses and the doctor were very pushy and used scare tactics to attempt to get me doing what they wanted. It is easy to say that there is no way in hell that you will stand for being coerced (I sure did!), but girl, it is TOUGH when you are in active labor. I was blessed with an amazing support team (my mother and hubby), and they helped a lot in terms of advocacy, but I still ended up with a lot of interventions and sacrifices that I did NOT want to make… some of which I blame for having trouble healing from childbirth. My birth plan was treated as a joke. Your doctor was right… the nurses are very set in doing things in their formulaic, by-the-books manner, and deviating from that track will earn you nothing but hostility. The best thing you can do is educate yourself on the stages of labor, all possible interventions (with pros and cons of each), and how you would approach various things that could come up. What if baby is slow to descend? What if labor goes on very long and you get exhausted? What if you need an emergency c-section… do you have a plan for your wishes in that situation? You are obviously very smart and dedicated to learning things. Make those choices now so that you aren’t stumped and can discuss things now with your doctor if necessary.
My other BIG complaint about delivering in a hospital was that breastfeeding support was very hard to come by. I am doing great with breastfeeding these days, but again a lot of that was thanks to my own education and search for resources.
If I ever have another baby – I’m already blessed with three gorgeous children, so who knows! – I will do everything in my power to stay out of the hospital. I’m a fellow Florida mommy (Tampa Bay area), and my heart goes out to you as you make these very important decisions. The birth of your child(ren) is something that you will hold in your heart for the rest of your life. I don’t think you can do too much prep for it, assuming that you know things can and do go wacky in labor.
Best wishes to you. You look radiant. 🙂
Wow, Stephanie! Thank you for your amazing comment!
I have been reading a lot and will continue reading and learning. I’m going through all Bradley books, I just received the hypobabies course, I will be reading the more standard birth books. I also went over almost any scenario with my OB and was happy with his answers.
My biggest goal is to have no regrets, to go into this with ideas but be open to certain things and outcomes (except taking the baby from our room unless medically necessary- that one I’ll fight tooth and nail). In the end all I want is a healthy baby in my arms- how I had to get there does matter as much to me. I’ll do anything possible to try and get there the way I want to but I’m ok if things don’t go my way.
The other thing that will help is that my husband is super involved, he’s reading all the same books and knows that HE will be the one to make decisions because I will most likely be out of it and emotional. I trust him to talk to nurses and stand his ground because he’s even more conservative about the health of our baby and me than I am.
We’re definitely going into this as a team and my only job is to be as relaxed as possible and get the baby out, his job- everything else.
I am not looking forward to headbutting with the nurses- I wish it wasn’t that way. I feel pretty good about my OB’s routine procedures which is what he will do if I don’t have an opinion or can’t voice it.
I also feel very strongly about going into labor prepared (not having a birth plan, but truly prepared for any outcome). So my next 2 months will be full of labor reading and practicing as well as exercising. It’s pretty exciting!
I really agree with all this. I had a natural birth in a hospital. I used a midwife, though, and the hospital and nurses were very pro-natural birth (the demographic of our city is pretty liberal/crunchy).
You really, really have to stick to your guns and…let me tell you…it’s hard when you’re in the throes of labor. You want whats best for your baby and the docs know this, so you’re more willing to jump into the interventions (c-section, vacuum extraction, pitocin, etc.) if the doctor says you “need” them. More often than not, you don’t need the interventions.
You need to be strong when you do deliver and make sure your wishes are granted. If you want that 1-hour after birth for bonding, you should get it. It’s amazing and the nurses can go through their routines afterwards. It’s your baby, not theirs.
I agree and I am prepared for that and trying to get hubby prepped, but I think it’s harder for him to understand the level of resistance we might meet at the hospital, because he has not read hundreds of birth stories like I did. So I’m just having him read all the educational stuff and labor techniques and labor science, so that he knew not only what the doc is telling him, but also what the other side of the story looks like.
It is the parents baby, obviously, but there are a few things we (as L&D nurses) need to get done- like making sure baby is warm, a quick assessment to make sure there is nothing that needs immediate attention (and there is, sometimes!). Most of it can usually be done on mom’s chest, but if it can’t (or the nurse feels more comfortable doing it under the warmer)- it takes 5 minutes at the maximum usually. Just let your nurse know you want her on your chest. I’ve never known a nurse to refuse to do that unless baby needed extra attention.
That’s perfectly fine with me. Hubby,doc and I already discussed that she’s going to want to do certain things and if she wants to do it on my chest, we’re fine with that. Anything more involved like cleaning and weight can really wait. I know it’s not convenient for baby nurses, i understand that, but it’s the one thing we both feel very strongly about. So could we ask her to , f.e., come back in an hour to do that?
I’m sure. How is the L&D unit set up at the hospital you’ll deliver at? Mine has a separate L&D, PP and nursery unit (stupid, but that’s how it is). If we didn’t have a weight in the first hour the nursery would probably freak out, but get over it. At my hospital we bring the baby scale in the room and it literally takes seconds to weigh. And I’ve never seen parents who didn’t want to know the weight right away 😉 Usually the dads ask us how much the weigh while momma is still holding the babe. lol.
I’m not sure- that’s something I have to find out. I do know that you labor in the same room you deliver and then stay in it afterwards. I also know the scale IS brought to the room, so that’s not a problem. I am not worried about knowing the weight right away (I’m curious, but it’s not a big deal). My biggest goal is to ensure that Alexis is completely calm and comfortable right after birth, because of how traumatic of an experience it is for a little baby. We want her relaxed, soothed, on my chest, surrounded by people and voices and the heartbeat she’s heard for 9 months. Once I breastfeed her (if she wants to) and she calms down and maybe falls asleep, i don’t see any harm in weighing her at that point and maybe cleaning if she continues to be calm. But biggest concern is that I simply don’t want her to be in distress or upset or scared in those first few hours after birth. Of course all that if the delivery goes without a hitch ( the best laid plans of mice and me…lol )
I’m a labor and delivery nurse. Let me start off by saying- getting an epidural does not make your birth not “natural”! It would take away the “drug free” part, but it’s still a birth the way nature intended it- vaginally! If you are prepared and have practiced ways of coping with the contractions- you will be fine without an epidural, and if you get into the throes of labor and it’s tougher than you thought- many times getting a epidural is all your body needs to relax and dilate and your labor is much shorter. I actually prefer a labor with few interventions and no epidural. 😉 Not all L&D nurses are hostile, so don’t go in with that defense mechanism up. We are there to help you on one of the biggest, most important day of your life.
That’s exactly what I am considering doing: training for a drug-free birth, but since I have no clue what it will feel like and whether my relaxation techniques will be enough for me, I am open to an epidural. I don’t think an epidural is the worst thing, I think it has its place in making the birth comfortable as long as there’s no complications from it. So I’m ok with both, and I want to be prepared for both. Like I told my doc “if I am unable to be relaxed and calm during labor, I’m most likely getting an epidural” and he completely agreed.
And I really really do hope that I get one of those nurses who loves her job and wants the best outcome possible. And if it’s not a given, I’d never treat a person a certain way because I “think” they will be nasty. I would always react to how they are treating me, so I would never go in “fighting”, just “prepared to fight if I need to”.
If you don’t think you’re belly is changing that much, go look at your early weeks 😉
In the end, you’ll have a beautiful baby girl in your arms. I had to have a c-section because Alexis was breech. The only thing I wish they had done, was let me see her over the blue sheet right after they took her out of my stomach. Just so I can see my baby. I didn’t get to see her til they weighed her, which was exactly to my right. I could turn my head and see her while I was getting sewn up. I guess every hospital is different, I got to see her after they cleaned her up, but then I had to go to recovery and the breastfeeding nurse asked, like as soon as I got in there, if I wanted to try nursing. So, My husband, who had went with Alexis to the nursery, brought her to me and we started trying to breastfeed. I don’t think I was away from her for more than 15 min and my husband was always with her for that time.
I was like you, whatever had to happen. I didn’t really care.
Only 13 weeks to go little lady 🙂
Yeah I did that this morning lol I was so tiny at 20 weeks 🙂
Husband and I discussed that if Alexis has to be taken away from me, he’s to be with her at all times ( unless of course there’s smth wrong and he can’t do that). I am ok with that too. All this labor talk is getting me excited lol
It’s amazing how different hospitals and nurses are from one area to another. I was actually pretty surprised at how pro-baby/mama our hospital is, so i think it’ll all be just ok.
I may be in the minority, but my hospital births were really quite ideal. Not because we were able to stick to our plan, but because the staff was so caring and supportive, even post delivery & with breast feeding. Now that the Women’s Center is finished at our hospital, they literally had a nurse coming by every few hours post delivery, and a lactation specialist come by at least once a day while we were there. Our pediatrician of choice also has an on-staff LC, which is amazing. And, for what it’s worth, I pretty much live in po’dunk Louisiana 😉
One thing I will put on your radar, if it isn’t there already, is the risk of a post dural puncture (aka spinal headache) during the epidural procedure. I ended up having this happen to me with my son in July, and it was not something that I even knew could happen, nor what to do after it was confirmed that it had. http://www.soap.org/media/newsletters/fall2000/pathophysiology_management.htm Is the best article I found about the topic.
That’s awesome, Jenny! I am crossing my fingers to have the same supporting hospital staff as you. That’d be perfect! It is an actual Birth center attached to the hospital, so I’d hope it’s more granola 🙂
I HAVE read about spinal headaches. How bad was it?
At first I didn’t know what was happening. I thought maybe I had pushed too hard, too fast (Sean was born after about four big pushes, little man was ready!). Or maybe the epidural was wearing off and I was just feeling off, although I didn’t remember feeling like that after my daughter was born. Then I asked for the lights to be turned off, the curtains to be drawn. And every time I sat up, I felt like I was going to be sick, so I eventually got up and laid down in the bathroom next to the potty. I wanted to push my eyeballs into my skull just to relieve the pressure. Being horizontal seemed to ebb the effects. That’s when my on-call nurse started to suspect what was going on. She had never seen an onset so quick post-epidural.
My _first_ epidural with this birth resulted in a puncture, my blood pressure tanked, I got dizzy and my head was full of white noise. I felt like I couldn’t talk, or I couldn’t be heard if I did. It was very weird, and I still remember it quite vividly. My husband was facing me, and he was able to tell the anesthesiologist what I was experiencing. It was pretty chaotic for a few minutes, but after everything calmed down they tried again. So, I don’t know if it was because I had two epidurals, or if it was because the leak from the puncture was more severe than realized.
Anyway, my nurse kept trying to get the anesthesiologist to check on me, but apparently he believed my symptoms were psychosomatic (I don’t blame him; again, they’d never dealt with a patient who had such a quick onset of symptoms). I was kept completely flat on my back in the dark on my hospital bed for three or four hours. When the anesthesiologist finally came in, he had no doubts what was going on with me. They gave me a blood patch and told me to be very still for at least a half an hour. All of this going on while I’m supposed to be trying to nurse every two hours, WHUT? Sean had a good latch, thankfully (my daughter is a different nursing story altogether), but it was still such a challenge.
The blood patch took, and I started to feel relief almost immediately. We were released the next day, and things were okay at first. Tiring, but that’s to be expected! I was home alone with Sean, for the most part. My husband is a self employed businessman and had to work. My mom is here, but was still fairly new at her job and wasn’t afforded the luxury of taking a lot of time off. By Wednesday, I started to notice my percocets weren’t keeping my headaches at bay. I did some research and thought that maybe I was having a reaction to the percocets, so I stopped taking them. By Friday I was a gigantic ball of pain and tears. I wanted to stab my eyes out of my head again, it hurt so bad, and I that’s when I *knew* what was happening. When I called the hospital, they immediately put me through to day surgery. They told me that when a blood patch is administered within the first 24 hours of the original puncture, the rate of the clot being knocked loose is extraordinarily high. They said I needed to come in right away and have _another_ blood patch administered. Neither my mom nor my husband were home at the time, and my in-laws were watching my daughter, so they couldn’t help beyond making sure she was okay during all of this. My family rushed home as quickly as possible, loaded everyone up into my car (including Sean – we hadn’t established my BF strong enough yet that I could pump and store for him yet, so unless I wanted to cave to giving him formula, he had to come with). I had so much previous blood work done that they couldn’t get a good line for the IV. Then, after they were successful doing the second patch, I still didn’t feel relief. I cried and cried, I was quite broken in that moment. I felt better the next day, so I think I had let my blood sugar get too low (I was hardly eating by that point in time, I was in so much pain). This time the blood patch took, and things started to get back to normal.
There were other consequences, though. Because I was in pain while I was trying to nurse Sean that first week, I didn’t notice that he had developed a poor latch. My nips were cracked, blistered, bleeding, and I’d have to bite my tongue to keep from screaming every time he latched on. The LC suggested I pump and bottle feed – until my nips were in better shape – to give them time to heal. Well, that started a vicious downward cycle of my supply not meeting his little needs. I was able to get him back on the breast about a week after starting treatment (Medela brand lanolin is AMAZING – get some now to have on hand if you haven’t already), but I wasn’t producing enough milk. He was literally nursing all. day. long. Even with fenugeek and oatmeal and blessed thistle and pumping after he’d feed, he still ended up being supplemented. When I had to go back to work, I couldn’t produce enough milk to make it worth the time I could give it (15 minute breaks every few hours) compared to his appetite. It breaks my heart that I won’t get a chance to try establishing a solid BF relationship again, since we’re not planning on having more children. But I have to accept the situation for what is.
I’m so sorry for the novel *embarassed*
WoW! That’s quite a story! I almost want to share it with my readers, since you took the time to write it. Would you mind that?
I do not mind, thank you for asking 🙂 I’m sure my reply is full of typos and grammatical errors, though, so if you wanted/needed to do some “editing”, I wouldn’t mind that either 🙂
I know that my situation was not the average or the norm, so I certainly don’t want to scare anyone. But I think it is smart to be informed, and to know the symptoms and treatments.
Spinal headaches are very rare- but easily fixed with a blood patch. I’ve “had” one in the past year and it was with a patient who had a spinal defect and so her epidural insertion was difficult. (But we have AWESOME CRNA’s).
Love the post! Happy your OB is so considerate and thoughtful 🙂
I need to read about this bonding time right after birth, haven’t even thought about it,
cuz there’s NO WAY they’ll let me keep the baby on my chest for more that 5 mins here 🙁
I wanna talk to you about it. Do they take the baby away somewhere?
I constantly stalk your blog for these updates!!! you’re one freaking beautiful preggo woman!
And you just ALWAYS manage to make me smile!!!!!!
Your belly is getting larger don’t worry. I feel the same way most weeks, but when I look back at photos from 15 or 20 weeks I was soo tiny (I thought I had this big belly bump too) I am 2 weeks behind you but I have a LARGE belly compared to you. It has to be the height difference, I am sadly only 5’4 (my husband is 6’3 and we are having a boy to fingers crossed he gets some of his dads height)
I am also doing my glucose test on monday, and I am glad your experience wasnt horrible since thats all I have heard from everyone else. Mine is early in the morning so I am planning on sleeping in late and just getting up when I need to go to help with feeling starved (I am a cranky hungry person)
Ps. Dont even think twice about al those negative comments about your nursery (crib to close to window, bumpers) I think you have your stuff together when it comes to the safety or your little angel. I bet a lot of those moms ate lunch meat, raw fish drank diet pop or even smoked when they were pregnant. I just read your blog but I feel I know you well enough to know you would never put your child in any danger, and if after all the research you have done, you are still comfortable putting those thin bumpers in the bed then do it. There is also a lot of talk about babies getting their arms in legs trapped between the rails of the cribs and breaking bones. I have chosen not to use bumpers but thats just me. I can tell your going to be a great mom!
Melody
Yeah, my height definitely helps with the room inside the belly part. Glucose wasn’t as bad as I thought. I think as long as you’re not experiencing m/s, you’ll be fine. Just bring some high protein + complex carb snack with you- you’ll want it.
@major lol at your nursery comment. I am not a fan of bumpers for safety reasons, but I’ll have my sis make a thin one just in case. Our baby will be co-sleeping at least in the first 6 months anyways, so the bumper isn’t that big of an issue since she won’t be in her crib.
I’ve wanted to ask this for a while since I’ve seen you wear them in several colors, but where did you get your ridiculously comfortable looking bras? They seem perfect for sleeping/lounging around the house!
looks like your just a little bit behind me in baby making!!! im on week 32!!! so glad to have found another prego blogger! 😀
i stayed on your blog awhile because your halloween costumes are a hoot you’re preggers!!! i’m obsessed with pregnancy. following your blog now and found u through casey wiegand’s blog hop thingy. would you believe i’ve met casey TWICE? ha.
I just found your blog on Followers Fest and I was SO excited! On your side bar you have a Bella Materna Givaway. (I nannied for the owner of that company (Annie) for 2 years!) Their bras are wonderful! I actually have 2 tanks and I’ve never even been pregnant lol. Congratulations!
Wow how random and cool is that?
Elena! You are looking so great! I’m so jealous of your long torso – I feel like I’m getting so HUGE already since my little girl has no where else to go but out :). Maybe with all the heartburn your having, your little one will have a lot of pretty hair when she gets here :).
Are you going to have a doula? That could be helpful for making sure that the things that are really important to you – like bonding time – are recognized. We settled on a birth center, and they have a doula intern program, so we get one for free (yay!). But if I were giving birth in a hospital, I’d get an experienced one who had moxy :). So excited for you guys that you plan is coming together! Can you believe we’ve made it this far already? The first few weeks were SO SLOW!
I thought about a doula long and hard and if my husband wasn’t so involved in the pregnancy and birth, I’d DEFINITELY hire one. But he feels confident he can advocate for me and help me. He’s reading all the birth partner books and going thru hypobabies with me. So I’m pretty happy with that arrangement.
And no, I can’t believe we are That far along! Crazy!
you look great!
but, i think it is reasonable to ask to hold the baby right after she comes out. in my hospital, right after i pushed him out, the nurse pulled back my gown and put him on my bare stomach. it was awesome. i had him for about 20 or so minutes (i think i even nursed him briefly … they don’t need to eat at first since they were just “chowing down” on your amniotic fluid… it’s just for practice) before they cleaned him. i hope to find a hospital that awesome for my 2nd!
No see they are ok with holding the baby right after birth. My doc will put her right in my chest. It’s just most of the time the baby nurse will want to measure and clean the baby soonish after delivery and we want an hour or so of uninterrupted bonding, which might cause a problem with hospital personnel. As long as she can do the routine stuff with the baby still on my chest, I’m good with that.
You look great as always!! Your OB sounds a lot like mine! It’s so nice to have an OB you can trust, makes things a lot less stressful! I’ve had 2 great birth experiences and I contribute half of that to him, for being so patient, and such a great doctor! I was starting to seriously consider a home birth before we switched to him. I feel a lot safer being in the hospital, personally.
I hated my glucose test both times! Ugh! I almost passed out last time, and felt like poop all weekend!
Just remember that whatever you plan chances are it may not go that way. I wanted a natural birth that ended up in an emergancy c-section after 16 hours of labor. My blood pressure was too high which needed medication. I couldn’t handle the pain like I thought which got an epi. My daughters heart rate dropped to 50bpm for over an hour which resulted in my c-section. This was all after my water broke the day before my scheduled induction five days after my due date. You can try to plan, but chances are it will be something different.
Yeah I’m very well aware of that, so I am prepared for any outcome that results in a healthy baby and healthy me 🙂
They may do lots of stuff right in your L&D room. With my first, he was put on my chest right away. After a few minutes, the nurse took him off to the side for about 3 minutes. She got his weight and length, did footprints, and cleaned him off with some towels. Put a diaper on him and a little hat and then he was back in my arms. He stayed in the room for nearly an hour before he left(with my hubby) to go to the nursery for a bath and some other routine things. I was supposed to be moved to my post partum room then but wound up passing out from fatigue and slept for 2-3 hours. Then they moved me down the hall to the post partum wing and brought him back to my room.
My 2nd was very different since I needed to be rushed into the OR due to fetal distress. He had to go directly the special care nursery for a couple days so we were unable to get that initial bonding time. He’s happy and healthy now so all is good!
Have you talked to the OB about what would happen if you do wind up needing an c-section? My friend wound up needing one and even though her baby was perfectly healthy, she didn’t get to hold her for several hours after she was born. The hospital didn’t allow babies in the recovery room. Her whole family got see the baby before she even had a chance to hold her! I would find out what the hospital standard procedures are for a c-section delivery, just in case.